Is there a Secret Wars coming to the Marvel Cinematic Universe? It seems so, with the announcement that Avengers: Secret Wars will hit theaters on… Read More »Secret Wars Reading Order, the 2015 event that rebooted the Marvel Universe
The Avengers and the X-Men, or the two most popular superhero teams in Marvel, go to war! Avengers vs. X-Men (also known as AvX or AvsX) is a 2012 crossover event involving the return of the Phoenix Force and the subsequent war between the Avengers and the X-Men. The 12-issue twice-monthly series features a storyline by Jason Aaron, Brian Michael Bendis, Ed Brubaker, Jonathan Hickman, and Matt Fraction, with a rotating team of artists including John Romita Jr., Olivier Coipel, and Adam Kubert.
One of the biggest Marvel events, Avengers vs. X-Men was a commercial success at the time and the repercussions resulted in the new status quo of the Marvel Universe presented in the company’s Marvel NOW! relaunch initiative.
As Avengers Vs. X-Men is the culmination of a decade of stories featuring the company’s two largest franchises, it is best to have read at least a number of stories before to know what the Scarlet Witch did and who Hope Summers is:
Launched in October 2011, Shattered Heroes is a comic book branding that ran through a number of books published by Marvel Comics exploring the fallout of Fear Itself, with a number of implications across a number of titles.
The idea was that in the aftermath of Fear Itself, Captain America, Thor, and Iron Man have all been changed by the dramatic event. As each deals with the shocking alterations to their lives, can they rise to the occasion and remain Earth’s Mightiest heroes?
We invite you to go consult our Fear Itself reading order.
Read More »Shattered Heroes Reading Order, a follow up to Fear Itself
Presented as a sequel to 2006’s Civil War event (see Reading Order) putting heroes against each other, Civil War II is another big Marvel crossover event, with the mission to capitalize on the release of the 2016 Marvel Studios film Captain America: Civil War.
Written by Brian Michael Bendis and penciled by David Marquez and Justin Ponsor, Civil War II was published between June and December 2016 and opposed this time Iron Man to Captain Marvel. When a new Inhuman emerges, with the ability to profile the future, Captain Marvel wanted him to work with the Ultimates, in order to preemptively tackle disasters before they happen, but Iron Man opposed the idea, suggesting it was dangerous to take his visions for granted for several reasons. This is the beginning of a conflict with a lot of tie-ins!
Read More »Marvel Civil War II Reading Order, Choose your side
Written by Charles Soule and Jeff Lemire with art from Leinil Francis Yu, Kenneth Rocafort, and Javi Garron, Inhumans Vs X-Men (IvX) is a 2016 Marvel crossover event about the fight for survival opposing the Inhumans against the X-Men.
The X-Men and Inhumans have been on a collision course ever since the link was proven between the Inhumans’ precious Terrigen Mist and the sickness and death of many mutants. And when the Beast discovers that mutantkind has only two weeks left before planet Earth becomes completely uninhabitable for them, an Inhuman/mutant war is unavoidable!
It all begins with one choice, and the world will never be the same! New Attilan comes under attack, and the Inhumans won’t surrender without a fight – but when the X-Men target the Terrigen cloud, will that mean the end of the line for the entire Inhuman legacy? Karnak vs. Fantomex! Emma Frost vs. Medusa! The Nuhumans vs. Magneto! IVX delivers sensational set pieces and gargantuan grudge matches that promise to shatter the Marvel Universe as you know it!
Death Of X is a 4-part miniseries set a few months before the events. It’s roughly an introduction. It’s optional, but it’s a way to start if you are not familiar with this universe.
Since the ’80s with the big success of ”Secret Wars,” Marvel Comics has produced many crossover stories combining characters from different series of comics. It became a big part of the business, but also of the way stories are built. Even after the near extinction of the industry following the speculator boom of the ’90s, big events and crossovers kept multiplying. Some are forgettable, others are unmissable parts of the overall mythology surrounding the superhero’s adventures, from Spider-Man to the Guardians of the Galaxy, from Captain America to the X-Men.
This article is a list of the crossover events, big and small, involving superheroes and characters from different Marvel series. It will be updated with links to the dedicated reading orders, as they are published, and, of course, with new entries as Marvel continues to announce more and more of them.
Read More »The Marvel Comics Events and Crossovers List, from the ’80s Secret Wars to today
Big Marvel crossover Written by Nick Spencer (with artists Rod Reis, Daniel Acuña, Steve McNiven, and Andrea Sorrentino) published between April and September 2017, Secret Empire is one of those Universe Redefining massive event. One that started with a huge twist, as it was revealed that Captain America is—pardon my French—a f***ing Hydra Agent!
Here is the official description of the event: Captain America, Sentinel of Liberty, is living a lie! The Cosmic Cube has remade the world’s greatest hero into a secret true believer in the cause of Hydra, wholly dedicated to its mission of progress through authority and unity through adversity! Now, using the trust and respect he’s been accorded by the great powers of the Marvel Universe, Steve Rogers makes Hydra’s ideals a reality—and changes the landscape of the world dramatically! How will he take some of his biggest threats off the board? Who will remain to stand against him? And which heroes will fi ght on his side? Find out as the impossible becomes real! Hail Hydra!
This limited series event addresses the aftermath of the crossover event Avengers: Standoff! and the ongoing series Captain America: Steve Rogers, in which Captain America has been acting as a sleeper agent and covertly setting the stage to establish Hydra as the main world power.
So, before reading Secret Empire, maybe take a look at the time when we discovered that Cap is a member of Hydra. To do that, you have to read Captain America: Steve Rogers Vol. 1: Hail Hydra, and you can go after that to Captain America: Steve Rogers Vol. 2: The Trial of Maria Hill, and then Captain America: Steve Rogers Vol. 3: Empire Building. If you want to read what’s essential, Marvel published a book collecting exactly that:
Read More »Secret Empire Reading Order, the Evil Captain America crossover event from Marvel
Fear Itself is a 2011 crossover Marvel Comics event, consisting of a seven-issue, eponymous miniseries written by Matt Fraction and illustrated by Stuart Immonen, Wade Von Grawbadger, and Laura Martin, a prologue book (Fear Itself: Book of the Skull) by writer Ed Brubaker and artist Scot Eaton, and numerous tie-in books, including most of the X-Men family of books. Although it is a Marvel-wide crossover, the event emphasizes Captain America and Thor.
The entire planet has been seized by Fear and only chaos reigns. The Serpent, Asgard’s most ancient evil, has awakened and is feeding off the fear of Earth’s populace. Our planet’s only hope lies in the hands of heroes and villains who have not fallen into worldwide panic. But with Odin intent on sacrificing Earth, will their struggles against the Gods be enough? And how do you conquer Fear Itself?
Fear Itself is a self-contained event and doesn’t require any prior reading.
Read More »Fear Itself Reading Order, a Marvel Event with Thor, Captain America and more
Meet Marvel’s own Jennifer Walters. She’s a lawyer and Bruce Banner’s cousin (aka The Hulk, see reading order). After an injury, she received an emergency blood transfusion from him and acquired a milder version of his Hulk condition. She became She-Hulk, a large, powerful green-hued version of herself and, unlike her cousin, still largely retains her personality.
Created by writer Stan Lee and artist John Buscema, She-Hulk first appeared in The Savage She-Hulk #1 in 1980, and you can read a lot more about that in our article about the origins of She-Hulk in the comic books.
During the past 40 years, she has been a member of the Avengers, the Fantastic Four, Heroes for Hire, the Defenders, Fantastic Force, S.H.I.E.L.D., and also at the center of multiple solo series.
Read More »She-Hulk Reading Order aka Jennifer Walters, lawyer and Bruce Banner’s cousin
Like her friend Silk, Spider-Gwen first appeared during the first Spider-Verse event. Conceptualized by long-time Spider-Man writer Dan Slott, but really created by Jason Latour and Robbi Rodriguez, this Spider-Woman is not from the main Marvel universe.
Out of the Spider-Verse, Gwen Stacy swings into action as the Spider-Woman of Earth-65 — a neighborhood like no other! Gwen balances superhero life with being the daughter of a cop…and playing drums in an up-and-coming band, the Mary Janes! And you won’t believe her reality’s versions of the Lizard, the Osborns, Matt Murdock, Captain America, Frank Castle, and more!
The dimension-hopping Gwen joins a team-up of Spider-Women — and sparks fly when she meets Miles Morales! But troubles mount up at home, where she becomes S.H.I.E.L.D.’s most wanted…and problems with her powers lead to the introduction of Earth-65’s Venom!
Gwen would end up without a secret identity and so many more problems. This eventually led her to move to Earth-616, where she would become Ghost-Spider (because there already is a Spider-Woman on this Earth). With the help of Peter Parker, Gwen joined Empire State University, but she still went back to her own Earth, fighting villains on both fronts.
Read More »Spider-Gwen Reading Order (Gwen Stacy, Ghost-Spider)